MARKET NEWS

By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Chijioke Ohuocha

Summary

• First hold after six hikes last year
• Central bank notes stability in FX market
• Encouraged by rebased CPI but wants more data

ABUJA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday after six hikes last year, saying that it was reassured by stability in the foreign exchange market and saw inflation gradually falling. Economists polled by Reuters had been split on what the Central Bank of Nigeria would do, partly because of a rebasing exercise by the statistics agency which resulted in a sharply lower inflation reading in January of 24.48% year on year.

The bank's Monetary Policy Rate remained at 27.50% (NGCBIR=ECI), after 875 basis points of rate hikes in 2024 as the bank stepped up its fight against inflation. Central bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso told a press conference that the Monetary Policy Committee was satisfied by recent macro-economic developments and they were expected to help price dynamics. "Inflation is trending down, and it's looking positive," Cardoso told reporters in the capital Abuja, adding that the aim was to bring inflation down to single digits.